State DOE fires six over payroll

ATLANTA - Six state Department of Education employees were fired Friday after board members said the department overspent its payroll by $900,000 last month. <br> <br> Board members, appointed by Gov. Roy Barnes, blamed Superintendent Linda Schrenko for mismanagement and favoritism to the employees, five of whom have contributed a total of $3,400 to her campaigns since 2000. Schrenko is competing in the Republican primary for the nomination for governor. <br> <br> Schrenko put the five employees in new positions that paid $51 an hour after the General Assembly eliminated their jobs this year, board member Bruce Jackson said. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s clearly a lack of management at the top,&#39;&#39; Jackson said. ``We are trying to do the responsible thing because she won&#39;t do it. ... This is a way to stop the bleeding.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Schrenko questioned the board&#39;s finding that the department overspent its budget. She also questioned the timing of its action, coming just before Tuesday&#39;s primary election. <br> <br> ``It doesn&#39;t take a genius to see what&#39;s going on here,&#39;&#39; said Schrenko, who called the board a group of ``hatchet men&#39;&#39; for Barnes. ``We can&#39;t figure out how they did their math to come up with this.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Five of the six employees worked as liaisons between local school systems and the department, and the sixth was coordinating director of programs designed to help low-income schools.